Milford board OKs Cedar Street project

MILFORD - Planners have approved a special permit application by developers of a proposed business park to allow Restaurant Depot to open in a 63,000-square-foot building.

Developers, The Gutierrez Company, have been involved in the project for nearly 15 years, when the property was rezoned to business park in 2002.

They secured approvals from the Planning Board on Tuesday, which means the company can start to build out the project, starting with Restaurant Depot.

According to local attorney Ernie Pettinari, who represents the developers, Restaurant Depot is investing $10 million in the development of the site. The total site is estimated to cost around $130 million to build, according to plans.

The Planning Board in 2008 approved the 625,000-square-foot Stone Ridge Corporate Center on 80 acres off Cedar Street near Exit 20 on Interstate 495, but there was one problem – no tenants had signed on.

That changed when restaurant product wholesaler Restaurant Depot reached out to the developers last year, Pettinari said.

The Gutierrez Company petitioned for a Town Meeting article last year to allow wholesaling in a business park and although planners were hesitant, the measure ultimately passed.

The building would be near the front of the business park on the left side, but separate from other proposed office developments, according to plans.

According to Pettinari, there are several Restaurant Depot locations in business parks throughout the country, including in Pennsylvania, New York, Virginia and North Carolina.

“They prefer to be in this kind of development,” Pettinari said of the business, which describes itself as a members-only wholesale supplier of restaurant equipment and food.

Pettinari said the development will bring a big boost to the town’s tax revenue and it will also bring jobs - about 100.

“It’s a really good first step for this project,” Pettinari said. "It's a business I think the town of Milford would be very well served to have."

Zachary Comeau can be reached at 508-634-7556 and zcomeau@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @ZComeau_MDN.